Police conditions imposed on anti-corruption rally have no legal basis

By Zaid Malek 

I refer to the anti-corruption rally to be held on 25 January which will commence at Sogo in Kuala Lumpur.

The organisers of the rally, Sekretariat Rakyat Benci Rasuah (People Hate Corruption Secretariat), had sent a notification to the police, as required under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA), on 15 January.

I can now confirm that the Dang Wangi Police chief has responded by letter dated 17 January, in which he has instructed the organisers to obtain the consent of the owner or occupier of the place of assembly.

This demand is purportedly made under Section 11 of the PAA, which the police have cited as a condition for the notice of assembly under Section 9 of the act.

We are surprised by this condition set by the police, which has no legal basis whatsoever. This rally is being conducted in a ‘public place’, as the police are fully aware from the notification sent to them. The rally is to commence outside Sogo in KL and proceed towards Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square). These are all public places which can be used by the public “as of right”, as stated in Section 3 of the PAA.

Why are the police then imposing unnecessary and irrelevant conditions? The purpose of the PAA is to facilitate public gatherings – not to impede or obstruct them.

The “Madani” (civil and compassionate) government, helmed by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, should be well aware of the importance of peaceful protests in a democratic society. The PM himself was the subject of and leader of many large public gatherings.

We thus urge the police and the government to facilitate the planned public assembly on 25 January, as required by the right to assemble peacefully in Article 10(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution, as well as the PAA.

Those who wish to gather have a right to do so; and no respectable democratic government should obstruct or stop a protest against corruption in the country.

Zaid Malek is the legal advisor of Sekretariat Rakyat Benci Rasuah and director of Lawyers for Liberty.